2,000 children die each day in Africa because of a lack of clean water and access to basic sanitation. So we build toilets to reduce those deaths and educate children, teachers and the community about issues of hygiene and sanitation. This is part of our Clean Hands Saves Lives project which also includes rainwater harvesting.
The Problem
90% of the 30,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are children under five years old. Many of these diseases are preventable. The WHO reports that over 3.6% of the global disease burden can be prevented simply by improving water supply, sanitation, and hygiene.
Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren’t strong enough to fight diarrhoea, dysentery and other illnesses.
How can Building School Toilet Blocks help?
The local team assess and if needed we provide toilet facilities via a three-unit school block. These toilet blocks support sanitation as their self-composting design ensures flies entering the toilet are trapped inside the pit latrine. Their larvae develop into maggots which eat away the faeces.
From our pilot project we have found these toilet facilities should also include dressing rooms solely for girls. When reaching puberty many girls would leave school, simply because they did not have any private facilities to use when they were on their period.
Educating girls is the most powerful and effective way to address global poverty. We support girls so that they not only graduate but also develop the skills they need to negotiate key life decisions.
Finishing secondary school leads to smaller, healthier families, lower HIV infection rates, and higher wages. Educated women are more likely to educate their own children – ending the cycle of illiteracy in one generation.
Where?
Over 100 different villagesThe Impact
- 88% of children now wash their hands after going to the toilet and before they prepare food.
- Only 5% of children living in villages without our support had access to a place to wash
their hands and toilets compared with 93% of villages Village by Villages runs projects in. - 77% of children now know knew hand washing spreads sickness to other people.
- 85% of children share their knowledge of safe sanitation practices with their families.
Be part of lasting, sustainable change for children in rural Africa
Volunteer Overseas
Volunteering will probably be one of the most worthwhile things that you ever do.
We take around 50 volunteers a year out to Africa. Doctors, Nurses, Teachers, Bricklayers, Mechanics, and students, all pay their own costs and raise money for the projects they work on.
We have opportunities to work on a wide range of projects that save lives and create transformational change.
Without volunteers, many projects would not exist. Discover our volunteer opportunities.
Donate to a project, or fund one!
Every day, millions of children around the world face injustice and violence. Too many families are suffering needlessly.
But there is hope... Village by Village is a community-led organisation that works with children on effective, long-term solutions to fight poverty and injustice.
Make a one-off/monthly donation or fund an entire school, clinic, or transformational change project.
Will you be a part of this long-term change, by making a donation today?
Since 2006 we have helped over 30,000 people living in poverty
Projects We've built
Schools, preschools & libraries
Wells, rain water harvesting projects, and boreholes
Health clinics
Toilet projects with hand washing programmes
Projects we've run
